Gretchen's Blog

Recently, John Breaux was riding his bicycle to pick up trash along a road near where I live. It was his commitment to the community to help in this way. He was about ten feet from the pavement when Mary Jo Anne Thomas swerved toward him and killed him with her car. Mary Jo has Alzheimer's and is 62. Tragically, her life is over too. >>More | Comment

Changing Lifestyles Takes Courage

Imagine that you have a Great American Lifestyle including a six-figure income (between you and your spouse,) a lovely home, appropriate cars and toys, an interesting social circle, and children grown and on their own.

Now imagine that you decide to leave your jobs, sell everything, move to a new place, and reduce your standard of living. >>More | Comment

An Ophthalmologist Visit

To be truthful, I didn't know the difference between an Optometrist and an Ophthalmologist (much less how to spell them) when I went to get new glasses a few months ago. I was about to find out. >>More | Comment

Some Are More Perceptive

Some people seem to be naturally more perceptive and aware of the experiences and feelings of others. Just like natural physical athletes, naturally empathetic people do not have to work as hard to understand others who are around them.

Older people are frequently good listeners and more empathetic. The have more years of experience at paying attention to others and older persons often have greater opportunity for reflection.>>More | Comment

Moving Mom: Helping Older Parents Move

Life brings us major moments; the birth of a child, the marriage of a sister, and helping older parents downsize and move. Moving our older folks is hard for everyone and the experience can be filled with many difficult events.

There is help at hand from professionals that specialize in moving seniors. According to Mary Kay Buysse, Executive Director of the National Association of Senior Move Managers (NASMM), "Senior move professionals guide clients through a journey that's often as much about sorting through a lifetime's worth of memories as it is about possessions." >> More | Comment

Happiness Is What We Really Want

Doesn't matter how old or young we are, we all want to be happy. Can we be happy every day?

We have tremendous freedom to choose our lifestyles. We can travel, or paint, or write. We can move to a place where it's nice to retire, a whole new community to explore. We can move nearer to our children or other loved ones. We can stay in our home longer than ever before, with new technologies and skilled people to help us. Children can move in with us (or we with them) building new multigenerational lifestyles. There are senior villages and alternative lifestyles that would have raised our parent's eyebrows, for sure. >> More | Comment

Taking Care of Mom (and Dad)

This change seems to come out of the blue. It happened to our parents and to their parents but still, we are not ready when it happens to us. There is a shift in relationship and they need us to take care of them.

Often there is denial. The elders will not admit that they need help, and we can't seem to find a way to make room for their needs in our lives. We all go on like this for awhile but Truth has a way of showing up. >> More | Comment

As We Grow Older

Family relationships take different forms. There are parent-child relationships, relationships between grandchildren and grandparents, there are siblings, and more removed family relationships with cousins and in-laws.

These relationships are influenced by distance, divorce and remarriage, favoritism, family heirlooms, and money. In families, resentments last longer than people.

Caring for Yourself (Try Again)

"Caregivers are told all the time that they must look after themselves. But in my experience knowing what you should do doesn’t mean you can actually do it. How do you carve out time for yourself if you have a job and/or children? And how can you use that time most restoratively?" >> More | Comment

Health, Wellness & Wisdom:

People Don't Believe Alzheimer's Can Be Treated

There is a stream of new information and medical breakthroughs that effect the health and well-being of matures. There is a lot of misinformation too. I think there might be so much that even doctors can't keep up so it's up to us to learn as much as we can if we're worried about something.

Gene Cohen and The Mature Mind

Today, I heard Gene Cohen speak in nearby Longmont. The room was packed with administrators and volunteers who work in the field of aging every day. There were also stars from our corner of the world in Boulder County, a couple of Mayors and current and former County Commissioners.

Dr. Cohen is a physician and a scientist and has been engaged in research and writing about aging for decades, so when he began to describe the history of the study of aging, the room fell silent. He has devoted a lifetime to this work. He was there for each step. >> More | Comment

Old People Suffer More From Negative Relationships

Older people suffer rounds of loss as their friends die or move away to live with children or to a caring facility. Human contact while shopping or volunteering can also be depressing. It is a fact that many persons are dismissive or patronizing with older people. Strong and capable people can become needy and dependent when faced with these pressures.

Relationships Should Bring Joy and Comfort

The Nature of Relationships with Seniors

Until we reach the old-old stage of life, we take relationships for granted. Our friends, family and pets bring us happiness and comfort us when we need them to.

As we Seniors become older and more frail, the people in our lives become caregivers. Many elders are grateful and graceful about receiving care but some are not, making the job of the caregiver difficult. >> More | Comment

ET Gentlemen's Catalog

Safe Driving for Older Adults